Cylinder for Processing Flat Material

ABSTRACT

A cylinder, having a cylindrical body which is rotatable about a cylinder axis of rotation, is usable to process flat material. At least one group of a plurality of tools are distributed around the periphery of the cylinder body in a homogeneous manner. These tools are able to perform a working movement with respect to the cylindrical body and are coupled to a control device which effects that working movement. A first cam plate is traced by the control device of each tool group. A rotatable cover disk is also traced by the control device of each tool group. The cover plate is rotatable and is coupled, for its rotation, to the rotation of the cylinder. The cam plate has a peripheral section that controls the tool working movement, in cooperation with the control device. The control section covers a maximum of 1/n of the periphery of the cam plate, where n is a whole number integer equal to, or larger than 2, in addition to a section that does not control the working movement of the tool group and which constitutes the rest of the cam plate periphery. The cover disk includes a first group of sections of different radii, which are traced by the control device, and which control device also traces the sections of the cam disk during the rotations of the cylinder body. At least one of those cover disk sections has a first radius which enables cooperation between the control device and the cover disk section. At least one other of the sections has a second radius which blocks such cooperation. At least one second group of sectors is also provided on the cover disk and is arranged between two sections of the first group of sectors. The radii of the first sectors and the second sectors are not the same.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the U.S. national phase, under 35 USC 371, ofPCT/EP2005/051635, filed Apr. 13, 2005; published as WO 2005/102890 A2and A3 on Nov. 3, 2005 and claiming priority to DE 10 2004 020 304.0,filed Apr. 26, 2004, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to cylinders for processing flatmaterial and to a cylinder in a folding apparatus of a printing pressThe cylinder has a cylinder body which is rotatable about a cylinderaxis and which has at least one group of tools which are evenlydistributed around the circumference of the cylinder body. These toolsare able to perform a work movement with respect to the cylinder body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known from DE 38 28 372 A1 to provide cams on a cover disk, whichcams are displaceable in the radial direction. It is possible, by theuse of these cams, to form sections on the cover disk which, when beingscanned, or traced by the control lever, block a work movement of atool. It is possible to match the cover disk to the respectiveproduction process by a suitable distribution of the sections on thecover disk. Moreover, cover disks are generally known and which arecomprised of several partial cover disks. The several partial coverdisks are displaced, relative to each other, by motors in order to makea change between modes of production. However, in both of theabove-described cases, the construction of the cover disk and of thecylinder is very complex and includes many individual parts. The resultis that a switch between modes of production is very complicated andtime consuming.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,499 discloses a cylinder for processing flatmaterial, and having a cylinder body which is rotatable around acylinder axis, and on which cylinder body controllable tools arearranged. These tools are controlled by a cam disk and by a cover disk.These disks have sectors of different radii.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,993 discloses a cylinder for processing flatmaterial, and having a cylinder body which is rotatable around acylinder axis. At least one group of several tools is uniformly arrangedover the circumference of the cylinder body, which tools are arrangedfor performing a work movement with respect to the cylinder body. Thetools are couples to a control arrangement for driving the workmovement, to a stationary cam disk, which is scanned by a controlarrangement of each tool, and to a rotatable cover disk that is coupledto the rotation of the cylinder body, and which is scanned by thecontrol arrangement of each tool. The cylinder has an operating modetriple collating operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is directed to providing cylindersfor processing flat material with a simple production change.

In accordance with the present invention, the object is attained by theprovision of a cylinder having a cylinder body which is rotatable arounda cylinder axis and which has at least one group of several tools thatare evenly distributed around the circumference of the cylinder body.These tools are arranged to perform a work movement with respect to thecylinder body and are coupled to a control arrangement for driving thework movement. A stationary cam disk is traced by the controlarrangement of each tool. A rotatable cover disk is coupled to therotation of the cylinder body and is also traced by the controlarrangement. The cam disk includes at least one circumferential sectionwhich controls the work movement and a section which does not controlthe work movement of the tools.

The advantages which can be obtained by the present invention lie, inparticular, in that the same cover disk can be used without retrofittingsteps, or without other structural modifications, for different modes ofproduction of the cylinder. For example, those different productionmodes could be ones in which the cylinder collimates either one workpiece or several work pieces, but at most collimates n−1 work pieces,out of the flat material, which work pieces are preferably signaturesmade of paper. A sector group of the cover disk is assigned to each modeof production. A sequence of these sectors, which may be, for example,circular sectors, and having a first or a second radius, is specific forthe associated production mode within the group. Each sequence ofsectors permits or blocks the work movement of the tools in accordancewith the associated production mode. If the cylinder is operated in aspecific production mode, the control arrangement, together with thesection controlling the work movement, only passes sectors of the coverdisk of a single selected sector group. If, for example, in one of thesector groups all of the sectors have the same radius, the same workmovement of the tools takes place during each revolution of the cylinderin the course of the operation of the cylinder in the production mode ofthe cylinder which is determined by this sector group.

Since the cover disk is rotatably coupled to the rotation of thecylinder body, it is easy to switch between two production modes byappropriately setting a phase between the cover disk and the cylinderbody. Sectors of the group of sectors which is a part of the desiredproduction mode either permit, or block, cooperation of the controlarrangement and the section for controlling the work movement.

Wear of the control arrangement of the cylinder is reduced, because arelative speed between the rotating cylinder body and the cover disk isreduced. The cover disk comprises several sector groups, so that anumber of the sectors of the cover disk is increased, in comparison withgenerally known, constructions. The difference of the rotatory speeds ofthe cylinder body and of the cover disk, which is required forcontrolling the tool movement at the desired periodicity, is clearlyreduced. The acceleration which is experienced by a roller of thecontrol arrangement, which roller traces the cover disk every time itcomes into contact with the cover disk, is reduced by this. Since thefrictional wear of the roller of the cover disk is disproportionallyincreased as acceleration increases, the service life of the roller isconsiderably increased by this reduction in speed differential.

The roller which is used for scanning or tracing the cover disk can besimply mounted on a common control lever together with a roller which isintended for scanning or tracing the cam disk. In such an arrangement,the roller of the cam curve will always lose contact with the cam diskwhen the cover disk blocks the work movement of the control arrangement.When the roller loses contact, it is slowed down and must be acceleratedagain. To prevent this loss of contact, it is also possible to providetwo control levers, one for each roller, which provision of two controllevers permits the roller of the cam disk to remain in contact with thecam disk even if the cover disk blocks the work movement.

The cover disk can be coupled with the cylinder body through acompensation drive, such as, for example, a planetary gear or a harmonicdrive gear. When a compensating shaft of this compensation drive islocked, this gear can be used as the drive mechanism for the cover disk.A rotation of the compensating shaft of this same gear can make possiblea switching of the production modes of the cylinder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is represented in thedrawings and will be described in greater detail in what follows.

Shown are in:

FIG. 1, a partial perspective view of a cylinder with folding blades inaccordance with the present invention, in

FIG. 2, an exploded detailed perspective view of the control arrangementwith two control levers of a folding blade of the cylinder depicted inFIG. 1, in

FIG. 3, a detailed perspective view of a simplified control arrangementwith one control lever and with two rollers mounted thereon, in

FIG. 4, an end view of a first embodiment of a cover disk for a cylinderwith folding blades, in

FIG. 5, an end view of a further embodiment of a cover disk for acylinder with folding blades, in

FIGS. 6 a)-6 f), the depiction of modes of functioning of the cover diskfor three production modes of the cylinder, in

FIG. 7, an end cover disk for use with a cylinder having grippers, in

FIG. 8, a schematic depiction of a gear drive arrangement of a collatingcylinder, and in

FIG. 9, a schematic depiction of a second gear drive arrangement of acollating cylinder.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of anend section of a cylinder body 01 with three folding blades, two ofwhich folding blades are visible in FIG. 1. For the sake of simplicity,the cylinder body 01 has been represented in FIG. 1 in the narrow,geometric sense. However, it is to be understood that it is possible, inactuality, to depart from the depicted geometric cylinder shape,provided that signatures on the shell face of the cylinder 01 areconveyed on a path which is shaped as a circle or as a sector of acircle. It is possible, in particular, for the shell surface of thecylinder 01 to be constructed of a plurality of segments, which segmentscan be shifted with respect to each other. The tools 02, such as, forexample, the folding blades, can be extended out of slits which arearranged at a spacing of 120° with respect to each other on the shellsurface of the cylinder body 01. Such an extension is done in order totransversely fold conveyed signatures at a transfer gap, which is notspecifically represented and, in the process, to transfer the nowtransversely folded signatures to an also not represented folding jawcylinder. To be able to load a subsequent or following signature ontothe cylinder body 01, the folding blades 02 must previously be retractedinto the interior of the cylinder 01. To accomplish this task, thefolding blades 02 are each fixedly connected with a respective shaft 03,as seen in FIG. 1, by the use of arms, which arms are hidden by theshell of the cylinder body 01 in FIG. 1. Each of these arms is pivotablyseated in two oppositely located front or end plates 04 of the cylinderbody 01. Journals 06 of the cylinder 01, which journals 06 are connectedwith the front or end plates 04, are rotatably seated in a lateralframe, which is not specifically represented. A cam disk 07 and a coverdisk 08 are provided coaxially with respect to the journal 06, asrepresented in FIG. 1. The cam disk 07 has substantially the shape of acircular disk and is arranged concentrically with respect to the axis ofrotation of the cylinder body 01. A section 09 of the cam disk 07 suchas, for example, the circumferential face 09 of the cam disk 07 has beenformed with a circumferential section 11, such as, for example, anindentation 11. The cover disk 08 can be understood, and can be seen inFIG. 1, as having been constructed of sectors 12, 13, such as, forexample, a plurality of circular sectors 12. 13.

Each one of the three shafts 03 of the cylinder body 01 supports twocontrol levers 16, 17, each of which control levers 16, 17 forms acontrol arrangement for controlling the movement of a respective one ofthe folding blades 02. For the sake of clarity, the control levers 16,17 are represented in FIG. 1 on only one of the three shafts 03. Thefirst control lever 16 has a roller 18 on its free end, which roller 18rolls off on the circumferential surface of the cam disk 07. In ananalogous manner, the second control lever 17 has a roller 19 on itsfree end, which roller 19 rolls off on the circumferential surface ofthe cover disk 08. The second control lever 17 is fixedly connected withthe shaft 03, while the first control lever 16 can be rotated around theshaft 03.

The two control levers 16, 17 have protrusions 21 or 22, respectively ontheir lateral flanks, with each such protrusion 21, 22 facing the othercontrol lever 16, 17, as can be seen in the expanded detailedrepresentation of the control arrangement, which is shown in FIG. 2. Apressure spring 23, which drives the two protrusions 21, 22 apart fromeach other, lies between the two protrusions 21, 22, as may also be seenin FIG. 2. The torque of a spring, which is not specificallyrepresented, and which may be housed, for example, in the cylinder body01, acts through the shaft 03 on the second control lever 17 and drivesthe roller 19 of the second control lever 17 against the circumferentialsurface of the cover disk 08. In the position which is represented inFIG. 1, the first roller 18 rolls off in the indentation 11 on thecircumferential face 09 of the cam disk 07, and the roller 19 rolls offon a first sector 12 of the cover disk 08. When the first roller 18rolls off on the circumferential face 09 while the second roller 19 liesopposite a first sector 12, the second roller 19 does not touch thecover disk 08, since a contact between the protrusions 21, 22 of the twocontrol levers 16, 17, and the support of the first roller 18 of thefirst control lever 16, which simultaneously rolls off on thecircumferential face 09, prevent this contact of roller 19 with coverdisk 08. In the course of a complete revolution of the cylinder body 01,the roller 18 is in contact with the cam disk 07 and because of thiscontact, this roller 18 is being uniformly rotatorily driven. When thefirst roller 18 enters the indentation 11, this leads to a movement ofthe folding blades 02 only if, at the same time that the first roller 18enters the indentation 11, the second roller 19 is located opposite asection 13 of the cover disk 08 with a small radius, as represented inFIG. 1. If this is not the case, the second roller 19 loses contact withthe cover disk 08 and is slowed until it again comes into contact with asection 12 of a large radius.

In a perspective plan view, which is analogous to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 shows asimplified control arrangement, in which a single control lever 17′,which is fastened on the shaft 03, supports two rollers 18′, 19′ forrolling off on the cam disk 07 or on the cover disk 08, respectively.The control lever 17′ pivots radially inward only in the case where bothrollers 18′, 19′ simultaneously pass the indentation 11 of the cam disk07 or a section 12 of the cover disk 08 of a small radius.

In place of the three folding blades 02, or spur needle strips with spurneedles, or grippers or folding jaws, the cylinder 01 can also have fiveor seven sections, and can thus have five or seven groups of tools 02,in particular five or seven groups of folding blades 02, or spur needlestrips with spur needles, or grippers or folding jaws.

FIG. 4 shows a front plan view of the cover disk 08. Although cover disk08 is, in actuality, made of one piece, with respect to its functions,it can be divided, as will be discussed subsequently in connection withFIG. 6, into first circular sectors 12 of a small radius and secondcircular sectors 13 of a large radius, which large radius sector 13 havebeen drawn in heavier lines in the various drawings for the purpose ofmaking matters more clear. Each sector group of the cover disk 08 iscomprised of twelve individual sectors 12, 13.

Each individual sector 12, 13 is a part of one of three sector groups.The group affiliation for each sector 12, 13 is shown by a symbol “<”,“<<” or “<<<”, with which each such sector 12, 13 has been provided, asis shown in FIG. 4. The sectors 12, 13 of the individual sector groups“<”, “<<”, “<<<” cyclically alternate in the circumferential directionof the cover disk 08. Between each of two sectors 12, 13 of the samesector group “<”, “<<”, “<<<” a sector 12, 13 of each of therespectively other sector group “<”, “<<”, “<<<” is arranged.

All twelve sectors of the first group of sectors “<” are sectors 12 ofsmall radius. This first group “<” is used for control duringnon-collating operations. When, in the course of each passage over theindentation 11, the control arrangement 16, 17 or 17′ meets a sector 12of this group “<”, the control arrangement follows the contour of theindentation 11 on the cam disk 07 and the folding blades perform theappropriate work movement. They are extended during each passage of thetransfer gap, which is not specifically represented, and aresubsequently retracted into the cylinder body 01.

The cam disk 07 includes a circumferential section 11 which controls thework movement in cooperation with the control arrangement 16, 17, 17′,and which, when “n” is a whole number equal to or greater than 2,amounts to at most 1/n of the total circumference of the cam disk 07.Cam disk 07 also includes a section which is not controlling the workmovement of the tool groups and which second section amounts to theremainder of the total circumference of the cam disk 07.

FIGS. 6 a) and b) are intended to illustrate the mode of functioning ofthe cover disk 08 during a non-collating production mode of the cylinder01. The rollers 18, 19 circle the cam and cover disks 07, 08,respectively, in a counterclockwise direction. While the cam disk 07 isstationary, the cover disk 08 is coupled with the cylinder body 01 androtates in the same direction as it does but, in a manner correspondingto the number 12 of sectors of each group, slower by 1/12. In thesituation which is represented in FIG. 6 a), the cam disk roller 18 isalmost ready to pass the indentation 11. The phase relationship betweenthe cover disk 08 and the cam disk 07 have been selected such that thecover disk roller 19 has, at this time, entered the angular range of afirst sector 12′ of the sector group “<”. The cam disk roller 18 entersthe indentation 11 in the cam disk 07 in the continued course of therotation of the cylinder 01, and the associated folding blade 02 isextended. During the time in which the cam disk roller 18 crosses theindentation 11 in the cam disk 07, the roller 19 rolls off exclusivelyon the first sector 12′ of the cover disk 08. After the cam disk roller18 has reached the end of the indentation 11, the folding blade 02 isagain retracted. Immediately following the crossing of the cam diskroller 18 through the indentation 11, the cover disk roller 19 has leftthe first sector 12′ behind, which can be seen in FIG. 6 b). In thecourse of the continued rotation of the cylinder body 01, during whichthe cam disk roller 18 rolls off on the circumferential face 09 of thecam disk 07, the folding blade 02 remains retracted. When, after acomplete rotation of the cylinder 01, the cam disk roller 18 againreaches the start of the indentation 11, the cover disk 08 has nowturned or rotated sufficiently far so that the cover disk roller 19 isin the angular range of the next sector 12″ of the same sector group“<”. In the course of the subsequent crossing of the indentation 11 bythe cam disk roller 18, the cover disk roller 19 therefore rolls off onthe first sector 12″, and the folding blade 02 is extended when the camdisk roller 18 dips into the indentation 11 and is retracted again whenthe cam disk roller 18 again comes out of the indentation 11. Onerevolution later, it is the sector 12′″ of the cover disk 08 whichfollows the first sector 12″ within the group “<”, on which the roller19 rolls off when the cam disk roller 18 crosses the indentation 11.During each following revolution, it is always one of the sectors markedby “<” in whose angular range the roller 19 is located when the roller18 crosses the indentation 11. Since the sectors marked by “<” areexclusively the first sector 12 of the cover disk of small radius, thefolding blade 02 is extended during each revolution of the cylinder body01. The cylinder 01 now operates in the non-collating production mode.

In comparison to this non-collating production mode shown in FIGS. 6 a)and b), FIGS. 6 c) and d) represent the mode of functioning of thecylinder 01 in the single collating production mode. To reach the singlecollating production mode from the non-collating production mode, thephase of the rotation of the cover disk 08, with respect to the camdisk, has been set in such a way that the situation shown in FIG. 6 c)results, in which the cam disk roller 18 is located at the start of theindentation 11. Now the cover disk roller 19 is at the height of asecond sector 13′ of a large radius, which second sector belongs to thesecond sector group “<<” of the single collating production mode. Thecover disk roller 19 rolls off on this second sector 13′ until thesituation depicted in FIG. 6 d) results. During the time in which thecover disk roller 19 rolls off on the second sector 13′, the cam diskroller 18 passes the indentation 11. However, because of the largeradius of the second sector 13′, the cam disk roller 18 cannot enter theindentation 11. The cam disk roller 18 does not touch the cam disk 07during the time the cover disk roller 19 rolls off on the second sector13′. Therefore, the control lever for the folding blade 02 is notactuated and the latter is not extended. One revolution of the cylinderbody 01 later, the cover disk roller 19 rolls off, as described above,on the sector 12″ which follows the second sector 13′ within the sectorgroup “<<”. However, since this is a first sector 12″ of a small radius,this time the folding blade 02 is extended, as described above, when thecam disk roller 18 crosses through the indentation 11 of the cam disk07. Because the sector 13′″, which follows the first sector 12″ in thesecond sector group “<<” has a large radius, the folding blade 02 isagain not extended one revolution later. By the alternating arrangementof first sectors 12 and second sectors 13 in the second sector group“<<” belonging to the single collating production mode, it can be seenthat during each revolution of the cylinder body 01 the folding blade isalternatingly extended one time and is not extended the next time.

From the above explanations, the mode of functioning of the cover disk08 during the dual collating production mode, as represented in FIGS. 6e) and f), can be easily seen. The situation shortly prior to the camdisk roller 18 passing through the indentation 11, analogously to theabove descriptions, is represented in FIG. 6 e), and the situationdirectly after the passage of the cam disk roller 18 is depicted in FIG.6 f). Between these two times, the cover disk roller 19 rolls off on asecond sector 13 so that, the folding blade is not extended. Within thethird sector group “<<<”, which corresponds to the dual collatingproduction mode, respectively two second large radius sectors 13 followeach first small radius sector 12. Therefore, after the extension of thefolding blade 02, two revolutions of the cylinder body follow, in whichthe folding blade 02 is not extended. The cylinder 01 now operates inthe dual collating production mode.

The cover disk 08 could, of course, also have still further sectorgroups beyond the first, second and third sector groups “<”, “<<”,“<<<”, such as, for example, a fourth sector group “<<<<”, which has onesmall radius sector 12 for respectively three large radius sectors 13 inorder to provide a triple collating production mode. FIG. 5 shows such afour sector group cover disk 14 with four different sector groups “<”,“<<”, “<<<” and “<<<<”. With the cover disk 14 the number of sectors ofevery sector group is 12.

In the above-described preferred embodiments, only folding blades 02were discussed and depicted as examples of tools which are attached tothe cylinder body 01 and which are periodically driven. It is, ofcourse, understood that the present invention can also be used in thesame manner, as has been described above, in connection with otherperiodically moved tools, such as folding blades, spur needle stripswith spur needles, grippers, folding jaws and the like.

As an example of a cover disk 53 which is suitable for controlling thework movements of tools that are different from folding blades 02, FIG.7 shows a cover disk 53 which is suitable for controlling grippers of agripper cylinder. The cover disk has four different sector groups, eachwith sectors 12, 13. As explained above, sectors 12, 13 belonging to thesame sector group are marked by “<”, “<<”, “<<<” or “<<<<”. The symbolssimultaneously stand for the production modes which can be realized bythe use of the respective sector group “<”, “<<”, “<<<” or “<<<<”. Thesheet end grippers move once during every revolution of the cylinder 01to pick up a freshly fed-in signature, and, depending on the selectedproduction mode, they move a second time during each one or severalrevolutions of the cylinder in order to release the signatures. In thecourse of a release movement, the cover disk roller 19 moves over one ofthe respective sectors 12 or 13 of the group corresponding to therespectively selected production mode. The pick-up movement iscontrolled in that the cover disk roller 19 rolls off on one of thesmall radius areas 24 which are located between four respective sectors12, 13, which small radius areas 24 are not counted among the foursector groups and which have a small radius like the sectors 12.Therefore a cam disk, which is working together with the cover disk 53,customarily has, in addition to the indentation 11, by the use of whichthe release of the signatures is controlled as a function of theproduction type, a further indentation which, together with the smallradius areas 24, controls the pick-up of the signatures.

A gear arrangement for accomplishing the rotation of a cylinder 01 of afolding apparatus, such as is, as a rule, arranged downstream of aweb-fed rotary printing press, can be seen in FIG. 8. For tools 02, thecylinder 01 has several folding blades 02 which are distributed evenlyover the circumference of its cylinder body 01. Cylinder 01 also hasgroups of several grippers which are also distributed evenly over thecircumference of the cylinder body 01. As described in the previouslymentioned DE 38 28 372 A1, the cylinder 01 consists of two segments,which are each star-shaped in cross section, which can be uniformlydriven and which can be shifted in respect to each other. One segment isin the form of a laterally seated folding blade element with the foldingblades. The other segment is a gripper element with the grippers. Thefolding blade element has a journal 26 and the gripper element a journal27. The gripper element journal 27 is embodied to be hollow and thefolding blade journal 26 extends through it, so that both journals 26,27 are coaxially seated in a frame 28. A drive gear wheel 29, for use indriving the folding blade element, is fastened on the journal 26, and adrive gear wheel 31 for driving the gripper element is fastened on thejournal 27. The drive wheels 29, 31 are arranged coaxially next to eachother and have the same diameter.

A cover disk 32, which is intended for use in controlling the foldingblades, is fastened on a hollow cylinder 37, which is seated coaxiallywith the journals 26, 27 and which rotatable around them in the frame 28and is therefore also arranged coaxially with the journals 26, 27 and isrotatable around them. A cam disk 34, which is situated adjacent to thecover disk 32, is fixedly connected with the frame 28. The foldingblades are controlled, as described above, by the operation of the coverdisk 32 and the cam disk 34, as well as by the use of non-representedcontrol levers. The folding blade cover disk hollow cylinder 37 has afolding blade crown gear 38 at an end of cylinder 37 which is oppositethe cover disk 32. The folding blade cover disk crown gear 38 is inengagement with a gear wheel 39 of a folding blade compensating gear 41,such as, for example, a planetary gear or a harmonic drive gear 41,which folding blade compensating gear 41 is in engagement with the drivewheel 29 of the folding blade element via a further gear wheel 42. Anyarbitrary phase relationship between the folding blade crown gear 38,and therefore between the folding blade cover disk 32 and folding bladeelement, can be set by the use of a folding blade compensating shaft 43of the harmonic drive gear 41.

A gripper cover disk 33, for use in controlling the grippers, isfastened in the same way as the folding blade cover disk 32 at an end ofthe gripper cover disk hollow cylinder 44 which surrounds the foldingblade cover disk hollow cylinder 37 and is rotatably seated around thelatter. Therefore, the gripper cover disk 33 is also seated coaxiallywith the journals 26, 27 and can be rotated around them. A gripper camdisk 36, adjoining the gripper cover disk 33, is also fixedly connectedwith the frame 28 and, in the same manner, as was described above, andtogether with the cover disk 33, is used for controlling the grippers. Arepresentation of the associated control levers has been omitted. Thehollow gripper cover disk cylinder 44 also has a gripper crown gear 46at its end opposite the cover disk 33. The gripper crown gear 46 is inengagement with a gear wheel 47 of a gripper compensating gear 48, suchas, for example, a planetary gear or a harmonic drive gear 48, which isin engagement with the folding blade drive wheel 28 via a gear wheel 49.Any arbitrary phase relationship between the cover disk 33 and thegripper element can be set via a compensating shaft 51 of the harmonicdrive gear 48.

The gear arrangement, which is represented in FIG. 8, sees to a couplingof the cover disks 32, 33 to a rotation of the folding blade element andthe gripper element. These cover disks 32, 33 are driven via therespective drive wheels 29, 31. Since the two separate harmonic drivegears 41, 48 are both in engagement with the drive wheel 29 of thefolding blade element, as well as with their respective, appropriatecrown gears 38, 46, the drive wheel 29 also drives the cover disks 32,33. Provided the harmonic drive gears 41, 48 provide a gear ratio of$1\text{:}\frac{1 - s}{s}\quad{or}\quad 1\text{:}\frac{1 + s}{s}$wherein s is the number of sectors for each sector group “<”, “<<”,“<<<” “<<<<” the cover disks 32, 33 rotate in such a way that, asdescribed above, only sectors 12, 13 of the same sector group “<”, “<<”,“<<<”, “<<<<”, together with the rollers 18, 19, 18′, 19′ of the controllevers 16, 17, 17′ pass the indentations of the cam disks 34, 36.

It is possible to switch between the several individual production typesdiscussed above by operation of the compensating shafts 43, 51. Byshifting the cover disks 32, 33, with respect to the folding bladeelement and to the gripper element, by use of the compensating shafts43, 51 and the harmonic drive gears 41, 48, it is possible to adjust aphase between the cover disks 32, 33 and the respective folding bladeelement or the gripper element. The result is that only sectors of sucha sector group “<”, “<<”, “<<<”, “<<<<”, together with rollers 18, 19,18′, 19′ of the control levers 16, 17, 17′, pass the indentations of thecam disks 34, 36 which are part of the desired production type.

FIG. 9 shows an alternative embodiment of the gear arrangement shown anddiscussed in connection with FIG. 8. In contrast to the gear arrangementwhich is represented in FIG. 8, in this alternative embodiment anadditional drive gear wheel 52 has been fastened to the folding bladeelement journal 26. The harmonic drive gears 41, 48 are in engagementwith this additional drive gear wheel 52, so that the cover disks 32, 33are operated indirectly, so to speak, via the drive wheel 52 instead of,as depicted in FIG. 8, directly via the drive wheel 29 through which aforce flow into the gear takes place.

The cylinder body 01, as well as the cover disk 08, may rotate, forexample, in a counterclockwise direction. The control arrangement 16,17, 17′ is embodied to precess, for example.

Driving of the cover disk 08, 14, 53 takes place from the folding bladecylinder, the folding gripper cylinder, the spur needle cylinder or thefolding jaw cylinder.

The cylinder 01 is in a folding apparatus of a printing press andsupports movable tools, which movable tools can be controlled by the useof a cover disk 08, 14, 53. The cover disk 08, 14, 53 can be driven byits own positionally-regulated electric motor.

The first sector group “<” determines the operating mode “non-collatingoperation”.

The second sector group “<<” determines the operating mode “singlecollating operation”.

The third sector group “<<<” determines the operating mode “dualcollating operation”.

The fourth sector group “<<<<” determines the operating mode “triplecollating operation”.

The fifth sector group “<<<<<” determines the operating mode “quadruplecollating operation” which quadruple collating mode of operation is notspecifically represented.

The cylinder 01 has five tools 02.

While preferred embodiments of a cylinder for processing flat material,in accordance with the present invention, have been set forth fully andcompletely hereinabove, it will be apparent to one of skill in the artthat various changes in, for example the overall structure of theprinting press in which the cylinder can be used, the specific structureof the groups of tools and the like could be made without departing fromthe true spirit and scope of the present invention which is accordinglyto be limited only by the appended claims.

1-43. (canceled)
 44. A cylinder for processing flat material comprising:a cylinder body rotatable about a cylinder body axis of rotation andhaving a cylinder body circumference; at least a first group of toolsevenly distributed around said cylinder body circumference and arrangedto perform a work movement with respect to said cylinder body; a controlarrangement coupled to each said group of tools and usable for drivingsaid work movement; a stationary cam disk having a first circumferentialsection traced by said control arrangement for each said group of toolsand controlling said work movement, and a second circumferential sectiontraced by said control arrangement and not controlling said workmovement, said control section having a portion of said stationary camdisk circumference not greater than 1/n wherein n is a whole numberequal to or greater than 2; a rotatable cover disk which is coupled to arotation of said cylinder body, said cover disk also being traced bysaid control arrangement for each said group of tools; and at least afirst sector group having sectors of at least first and second differentradii, and a second sector group also having sectors of at least firstand second radii, said first radius of each of said first and secondsectors in said first sector group permitting cooperation between saidcontrol arrangement and said first circumferential section of said camdisk for allowing said work movement of each said group of tools, saidsecond radius of each of said first and second sectors of said firstsector group blocking said cooperation and permitting said workmovement, said at least second sector group being located betweensuccessive other ones of said at least first and second sector groups, asequence of said sectors of said at least first and second radii in saidfirst sector group being different from a sequence of said sectors ofsaid at least first and second radii in said second sector group.
 45. Acylinder for processing flat material comprising: a cylinder bodyrotatable about a cylinder body axis of rotation and having a cylinderbody circumference; at least a first group of tools evenly distributedaround said cylinder body circumference and arranged to perform a workmovement with respect to said cylinder body; a control arrangementcoupled to each said group of tools and usable for driving said workmovement; a stationary cam disk traced by said control arrangement foreach said group of tools; and a single rotatable cover disk coupled tosaid rotation of said cylinder body and being traced by said controlarrangement for each said group of tools, said cylinder being operablein triple collating mode, said groups of tools being folding blades withthere being one of five and seven of said groups of tools, said singlecover disk being arranged for controlling said groups of folding blades.46. The cylinder of claim 44 wherein said cylinder is operable in triplecollating operation.
 47. The cylinder of claim 44 wherein said cylinderis operable in quadruple collating operation.
 48. The cylinder of claim44 wherein said radii of said first and second sectors in said secondsector group are the same.
 49. The cylinder of claim 44 furtherincluding a compensating gear coupling said cover disk and saidcylinder.
 50. The cylinder of claim 49 wherein said compensating gear isone of a planetary gear and a harmonic drive gear.
 51. The cylinder ofclaim 44 wherein each said second radius is greater than each said firstradius.
 52. The cylinder of claim 44 wherein said control arrangementincludes a control lever supporting a first cam disk tracing roller anda second cover disk tracing roller.
 53. The cylinder of claim 44 whereinsaid control arrangement includes a first control lever adapted to tracesaid cam disk and a second control lever adapted to trace said coverdisk, said first and second control levers being pivotable about acommon axis.
 54. The cylinder of claim 44 wherein there are a pluralityof identical ones of said groups of tools and further wherein said toolsare selected from sheet grippers, spur needle strips, folding blades andfolding jaws.
 55. The cylinder of claim 44 wherein each of said at leastfirst and second groups of sectors determine a production mode of saidcylinder in which said cylinder collates work pieces of said flatmaterial.
 56. The cylinder of claim 44 further including a folding bladecylinder, said folding blade cylinder driving said cover disk.
 57. Thecylinder of claim 44 further including ones of a gripper cylinder and aspur needle cylinder, said cover disk being driven by said one of saidgripper cylinder and said spur needle cylinder.
 58. The cylinder ofclaim 44 further including a folding jaw cylinder, said folding jawcylinder driving said cover disk.
 59. The cylinder of claim 44 whereinsaid cover disk is driven by a positionally-controlled electric motor.60. The cylinder of claim 44 wherein said first sector group determinesa non-collating operational mode.
 61. The cylinder of claim 44 whereinsaid second sector group determines a single-collating operational mode.62. The cylinder group of claim 44 further including a third sectorgroup which determines a dual-collating mode.
 63. The cylinder group ofclaim 44 further including a fourth sector group which determines atriple collating mode.
 64. The cylinder of claim 44 further including afifth sector group which determines a quadruple collating operation. 65.The cylinder of claim 44 wherein there are five of said groups of tools.66. The cylinder of claim 65 wherein said groups of tools are foldingblades.
 67. The cylinder of claim 65 wherein said five groups of toolsare selected from spur needle systems and grippers.
 68. The cylinder ofclaim 44 wherein there are seven of said groups of tools.
 69. Thecylinder of claim 44 wherein seven groups of folding blades are arrangedon said cylinder circumference.
 70. The cylinder of claim 44 whereinseven groups of ones of spur needle systems and grippers are arranged onsaid cylinder circumference.
 71. The cylinder of claim 70 whereinspacing distances between said spur needle systems and said grippers areunchangeable.
 72. The cylinder of claim 44 further including at leastthree sector groups.
 73. The cylinder of claim 44 further including atleast four sector groups.
 74. The cylinder of claim 44 further includingat least five sector groups.
 75. The cylinder of claim 44 including atleast three of said sectors in each of said sector groups.
 76. Thecylinder of claim 44 including at least four of said sectors in eachsaid sector group.
 77. The cylinder of claim 44 including at leasttwelve sectors in each said sector group.
 78. The cylinder of claim 61wherein in said single collating operation, a group of folding blades isextended from said cylinder circumference once in two successiverotations of said cylinder.
 79. The cylinder of claim 62 wherein in saiddual collating operation, a group of folding blades is extended fromsaid cylinder circumference once in three successive rotations of saidcylinder.
 80. The cylinder of claim 45 wherein in said triple collatingoperation, a group of folding blades is extended from said cylindercircumference once in four successive rotations of said cylinder. 81.The cylinder of claim 64 wherein in said quadruple collating operation,a group of folding blades is extended from said cylinder circumferenceonce in five successive rotations of said cylinder.
 82. The cylinder ofclaim 54 wherein a single said cover disk controls said groups of tools.83. The cylinder of claim 67 wherein a single said cover disk controlssaid groups of tools.